~MotoGP Japan Race Results~

 

Dani Pedrosa scores his first victory of 2015 at Motegi

 

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa scored his first victory of the 2015 MotoGP Season in mixed conditions at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan today.

 

 I felt Dani could be a threat for a podium finish as Lorenzo's pace was electric all weekend and the Sunday race pace of Valentino Rossi is always a factor to consider.

 

Warm up this morning on a wet Motegi circuit underlined Pedrosa's intentions as he topped the session from Lorenzo with Rossi in third.

 

"The Doctor" got possibly his best race start this season as he peeled off the line followed closely by Lorenzo who ran wide into turn 1. By turn 3 the Spaniard had overtaken Rossi and dropped the hammer as he pulled away creating a gap of just over 3 seconds in the first four laps of the race.

Tyre degradation prevented Lorenzo from taking victory

 

 With 10 laps remaining this race was over, or so I thought. All of a sudden Dani Pedrosa,sitting in 5th position, started lapping over a second faster than Ducati's Andrea Iannone in 4th and proceeded to claw his way back into the race firstly overtaking Iannone and then Valentino Rossi for second!

 

By this time Dani was lapping the Motegi circuit faster than race leader Jorge Lorenzo. The reason for this of course was bad front tyre degradation of the Bridgestone hard tyre due to the drying Motegi track and the pressure placed on the front tyre by the Yamaha's during breaking. Lorenzo's team mate Rossi was also suffering from this which would explain why there was no fight back when he was overtaken by Dani Pedrosa.

 

With both Factory Yamaha's struggling in the mixed weather conditions at Motegi it was left to Pedrosa to increase his lead and take a well deserved victory at Honda's home track and his 50th grand prix victory.

 

Marc Marquez struggled with his surgically repaired finger and battled home in a worthy 4th position with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso in 5th and Britain's Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith 6th and 7th respectively.

 

Japanese wildcard and Suzuka 8 hour victor Katsuyuki Nakasuga finished in an impressive 8th position on board the Factory Yamaha suited in a special livery designed for Yamaha's 60th anniversary.

 

Hector Barbera and Scott Redding finished out the top 10.

 

1. Dani Pedrosa    Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 46m 50.767s
2. Valentino Rossi  Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 46m 59.340s
3. Jorge Lorenzo  Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 47m 2.894s
4. Marc Marquez   Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 47m 18.608s
5. Andrea Dovizioso   Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 47m 25.852s
6. Cal Crutchlow   LCR Honda (RC213V) 47m 28.030s
7. Bradley Smith   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 47m 28.434s
8. Katsuyuki Nakasuga   Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 47m 35.421s
9. Hector Barbera   Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 47m 39.339s
10. Scott Redding   Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 47m 40.888s
11. Aleix Espargaro  Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 47m 51.302s
12. Takumi Takahashi  Team HRC (RC213V) 47m 51.978s
13. Nicky Hayden   Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 48m 2.028s
14. Yonny Hernandez  Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 48m 4.663s
15. Mike Di Meglio   Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 48m 6.188s
16. Alvaro Bautista  Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 48m 11.274s
17. Eugene Laverty   Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS)* 48m 21.991s
18. Stefan Bradl   Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 48m 37.600s
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi   AB Motoracing (RC213V-RS) 48m 50.839s
20. Toni Elias   Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) +1 lap 

 
Pol Espargaro   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) DNF
Jack Miller   LCR Honda (RC213V-RS)* DNF
Maverick Viñales   Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* DNF
Loris Baz   Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha)* DNF
Andrea Iannone   Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) DNF
Danilo Petrucci   Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF